19.7.16

We thought that Korean food could be a good first thing to do. In the span of a decade, everyone has already decided that they have a favorite Korean dish, restaurant, or particular frozen snack food from their favorite Korean grocery. The speed at which these establishments have become part of our lives is astounding! And yet, not many people have Korean friends who can help them unlock the secrets of the shelves: those eight obviously-different tubs of miso, those strange grains of varying shades of brown, those sticky sauces, those hairy leaves.

So in this workshop series, Korean Cooking with Lily Min, the brilliant cookbook author will demonstrate popular restaurant favorites as well as little-known
dishes for us. She will teach us how to hack “BonChon” chicken and how
to make rice cakes with edible flowers on them. She will also show us
how to make kimchi. Classically trained in traditional and
royal Korean cuisine, Lily can field questions and give context to your
favorite dishes!

Workshops will be in English. AM sessions are at 10AM-12PM and PM
sessions are at 130PM-330PM. Session fee is 1,300 for one half-day
session, and 2,300 for two half-day sessions. All sessions will be held
at our shop (Ritual at Unit 203, Languages Internationale Building, 926
Arnaiz Ave., Makati). Please email hola@ritual.ph for inquiries.

Reservations are open for the 25 July morning and afternoon sessions. Registration for the rest will be open in a few days.

30.6.16

Hi people! Please join Roland Sianghio as he discusses composting in the city this Monday, 4 July 2016! We've been using his pail system with happy results. It does involve buying an (inexpensive) inoculated sack of coco peat to cover your wet garbage. We are not selling his system, nor is he getting paid for this talk. It is absolutely free and aimed towards creating the conversation about dealing with your waste in the city!

19.6.16

Happy father's day to everyone! We'll be at 59 Mahabagin St (near corner Matimtiman), Teacher's Village East, Quezon City, at As In's little homebase. Kalsada Coffee will be there as well. Ritual stuff, craft beer, coffee, cacao, maybe some bananas, and also pre-loved nice things from As In!

4.6.16

I have long been perplexed by references in old rice cake recipes to "dahon ng anis" or anise leaf. This is because true anise leaves are feathery and would fall apart when cooked in kakanin, making for truly weird and unattractive eating. I had always assumed that the recipe-imparters meant "seeds" of the anise plant, and not "leaves".

Things began to take a dramatic turn around ten years ago. Upon hiking the wonderful Mt. Malarayat, Lipa, Batangas, I found a tree with fruit that were obviously of the citrus persuasion, but with leaves that smelled curiously of anise and caramel (caramelized anise?). I balled a couple of seedlings up and planted them in my garden and grew them, their identity a mystery for a few years.

One night, I was furiously procrastinating by reading up on essential oils and oleoresins of the Philippines instead of working on a deadline. In my loopy, reality-evading mania, I chanced upon a reference to a plant that was used during the Spanish time to substitute for true anise (Pimpinella anisum) in making anisado liquor.

Turns out, the leaves referred to as dahon ng anis were actually kalumata (Clausena anisum-olens) leaves. Once a common backyard plant, it is now very sporadically propagated and yet still thrives well in low rainforests, though it is on the red list. Traditional uses of the plant include making into tea for morning sickness, boiling into a bath for rheumatism, and stuffing the leaves into pillows to create a calming "soporific" effect. Burning the leaves is said to repel ticks and mosquitoes.

And in food, of course! Those hints of anise that once added subtle complexity to our rice cakes and delicacies are disappearing altogether, save for a few popular snacks. I observe that this family of warm round tastes (also imparted by pandan) is now being replicated by artificial vanilla flavoring. It's quite possible that anise seeds and these leaves were used interchangeably in dishes. I have only found them documented in snacky sweet dishes, specifically in rice cakes, sweetened macapuno, and a specific native fried dough treat called gorgorya.

Our local neighborhood biko, which people love because the grandma making it still uses real anise seeds to flavor it.

We welcome you to try these (now) rare leaves! Clausena anisum-olens is a very aromatic endemic with irresistible flavor. Dunking a few leaves into a chilling pitcher of coconut water is a good way to start getting to know them.

23.1.16

We are happy to say we are fairly settled in our new(ish) store. Here are some changes we will be bringing on shortly:

Cacao and Coffee

We are now offering cacao and coffee in-store under the small venture called Barrios. This is in our store, and just a tiny way for us to share our passion for local coffee and cacao. It is named after Agustin Barrios. And barrios. Get it?

Shop Hours

In February, we are also
adjusting our opening hours to 11 AM to 8 PM instead of 12 noon to 9 PM.
This makes it easier for us to cater to those who want some morning
time in, and also makes it safer for us to get home in this crazy giant
megacity. We are also considering opening on Sundays-- this is still a debate among us. Please let us know your thoughts via email!

Sale

This coming week, we are putting on sale all our publications, textiles, and alcoholic beverages. Please stop by or check out our Facebook page for announcements.

Price Increase / Tax Change

On our sixth year in the "legit business" world, we are shifting to a corporation from a sole proprietorship. Not only does this mean we get to make shareholders out of our dearest employees and supporters, it also means that we now have to pay 12% VAT (value-added tax). Previously, we paid a 3% percentage tax. We are raising our prices, probably the first time in three years for most of our products. We are also somewhat adjusting our pricing for bulk goods. Our updated price list will be posted shortly.

Bulk Sales on Pause

We cannot cater to new
bulk clients until Friday of the coming week. Existing clients can be
serviced! We are adjusting our pricing structure.

Delivery

We are also now primarily delivering via GrabExpress. Please email us for more details-- or if you know of any remaining bicycle messengers around! We will be doing some number-crunching to see if hiring our own dedicated delivery person will be worth it.

Tiangges

We would like to join less "mainstream" tiangges, ie, bazaars in small schools, municipal halls, hobby events, whatnot. Please keep us posted if you know of any!